Canned Pumpkin Shortage in Billings

Oh 2020, you've been a real joy. Ever since March when living with COVID-19 became our "new normal" (ugh), we've been dealing with various shortages on all kinds of groceries and necessities. Clorox wipes, hand sanitizer, aluminum cans, meat, yeast and canning supplies - just to name a few - have all been difficult to find on store shelves over the past six months. The latest shortage is apparently pumpkins. Not the kind you carve... there seems to be plenty of those.

We're talking about canned pumpkin puree. The kind you might use to make pumpkin cheesecake or pumpkin bars (with homemade cream cheese frosting). Yum. We're not even close to Thanksgiving, with the obligatory pumpkin pies, and there already seems to be a shortage of canned pumpkin. My wife has been asking the kid to pick some up every time she goes to get groceries and the cans of slimy pumpkin goo have been missing from the Walmart shelf every time she looks.

My neighborhood IGA store hasn't had any canned pumpkin in-stock either. When I swung by Albertsons on 6th and Central this afternoon (10/6) they had some on the shelf, so I grabbed four cans. The wife said I should have bought more.

Apparently you can make your own pumpkin puree, as shown by this easy recipe from Food Network, but it's soooo much simpler just to open a can and pour it into your mixing bowl. We can only guess what the next food shortage will be this year. Hopefully the turkey crop hasn't been impacted by coronavirus too.